News for lightwave users!possibly...
by Daniel Brown · in Artist Corner · 04/14/2004 (12:47 pm) · 17 replies
Well as theres no .dif exporter for lightwave, i decided to look for a .map exporter which i could then load into quark and export to .dif and so forth. and i found one...
http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
...but the downside it costs $75 or
http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
...but the downside it costs $75 or
About the author
#2
04/14/2004 (1:37 pm)
It prolly doesnt work, same company/guy made the Gamespace Level Exporter, and it doesnt work for Torque.
#3
I just went to the site and noticed that the developer says the plugin now supports Torque. Very interesting.
GreenBriar Studios
04/14/2004 (11:00 pm)
I have only seen that plugin tested in Conitec 3D Gamestudio A6. MDL7 is Conitec's format, so you wouldn't need it.I just went to the site and noticed that the developer says the plugin now supports Torque. Very interesting.
GreenBriar Studios
#4
04/15/2004 (1:03 am)
Yes I have been speaking to him about it, and he now has developed it so that it will save to a .map file the map2dif tool can use! At last a I can use lightwave for building levels! :)
#5
04/15/2004 (11:19 am)
Love to see some levels made that way.
#6
04/16/2004 (1:09 am)
Well Im in the process of making a somthing small to test it with so i will post a screenshot when im done.
#7
I bought Dave's LW2MAP(www.greenbriarstudios.com/3d/gamelw.htm)
plugin,It is a great plugin.
There are a few things that have to happen though.
Last I emailed Dave, he was workign on updating the
export process if I recall correctly. You have to model
and texture you work in a certain way for the .map to work.
took me about 2 days to work out the whole process.
I wasn't able to take my work directly into Torque though.
There was a problem that hes is workign on about the Q2/Q3
saving format that the Map2Dif with torque no longer supports.
So, untill it gets updated i have been going through the HAMMER
editor(new Worldcraft). It is awsome! I can make a scene in LW
with lights and all. Then I export with LW2MAP, and imported the .MAP i made into HAMMER. all of ,y lights, and textures were there. you have to create a .WAD though so Hammer can
load your textures. You can export .WAD with LW2MAP(it's in there also,...very cool!)or you can use the Build WAD that comes with your Torque TOOLS. anyways, if for some reason, you
model/map had some geometry that could not convert, or was
illegal, then HAMMER will not load it. you can see if the .map
in HAMMER is missing stuff or what. then Export from there a
.MAP and use the MAP2DIF to load into Torque.
Hear is Process(Until the LW2MAP update)
-LW scene: LW2MAP
-Create .WAD within LW2MAP or through Build WAD
-Open in HAMMER ( check for missing/illegal geometry)
-Export from HAMMER to .MAP
-MAP2DIF coverted for TORQUE
Hope this helps.
Have fun,
jOnathOn
P.S. I am trying to work on makign animation with LW2DTS.
Any help with the process, or what not to do is welcome.
06/08/2004 (2:36 pm)
Hi All!I bought Dave's LW2MAP(www.greenbriarstudios.com/3d/gamelw.htm)
plugin,It is a great plugin.
There are a few things that have to happen though.
Last I emailed Dave, he was workign on updating the
export process if I recall correctly. You have to model
and texture you work in a certain way for the .map to work.
took me about 2 days to work out the whole process.
I wasn't able to take my work directly into Torque though.
There was a problem that hes is workign on about the Q2/Q3
saving format that the Map2Dif with torque no longer supports.
So, untill it gets updated i have been going through the HAMMER
editor(new Worldcraft). It is awsome! I can make a scene in LW
with lights and all. Then I export with LW2MAP, and imported the .MAP i made into HAMMER. all of ,y lights, and textures were there. you have to create a .WAD though so Hammer can
load your textures. You can export .WAD with LW2MAP(it's in there also,...very cool!)or you can use the Build WAD that comes with your Torque TOOLS. anyways, if for some reason, you
model/map had some geometry that could not convert, or was
illegal, then HAMMER will not load it. you can see if the .map
in HAMMER is missing stuff or what. then Export from there a
.MAP and use the MAP2DIF to load into Torque.
Hear is Process(Until the LW2MAP update)
-LW scene: LW2MAP
-Create .WAD within LW2MAP or through Build WAD
-Open in HAMMER ( check for missing/illegal geometry)
-Export from HAMMER to .MAP
-MAP2DIF coverted for TORQUE
Hope this helps.
Have fun,
jOnathOn
P.S. I am trying to work on makign animation with LW2DTS.
Any help with the process, or what not to do is welcome.
#8
06/08/2004 (2:56 pm)
I may be mistaken on this, but I'll ask anyway. Don't triangle-based modelling programs like Lightwave create a lot higher poly count than something made in QuArK or Hammer?
#9
The app imports .3ds and .obj. I have taken imported .obj models and converted them to Q2 .map format for easy import into QuArK, where I convert them to Valve 220 .map, then to .dif. Soon QuArK will not even be needed.
Also, static .dts export is in.
http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/ToolBox/ToolBox.htm
@Eric, if you model with triangles you will end up with a lot more brushes when you export to .map. I have been modeling in Quads and my .map exports look very similar in QuArK to what I would have modeled myself in QuArK.
06/08/2004 (3:26 pm)
Just to let you know, I have been working with him beta testing his other app, ToolBox, specifically to integrate Half-Life Valve 220 .map export (for map2dif), static .dts export, and animated .dts export with .dsq support. The Valve 220 .map export is coming along, the Q2 export works fine if you want to drop your modeled maps into QuArK to finish them up.The app imports .3ds and .obj. I have taken imported .obj models and converted them to Q2 .map format for easy import into QuArK, where I convert them to Valve 220 .map, then to .dif. Soon QuArK will not even be needed.
Also, static .dts export is in.
http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/ToolBox/ToolBox.htm
@Eric, if you model with triangles you will end up with a lot more brushes when you export to .map. I have been modeling in Quads and my .map exports look very similar in QuArK to what I would have modeled myself in QuArK.
#10
06/08/2004 (9:28 pm)
Ahh, thanks Joe. :)
#11
06/08/2004 (10:12 pm)
Yes I wouldn't model in triangles, stick to quads as much as possible, though if you do make something that is very high in poly count there are a many tools you can use to get it down to an acceptable number.
#12
Yes, I'd render them as quads. In fact, I usually render everything as quads anyway, even DTS objects, and then just freeze them (if they're sub-ds) and triple them before export.
On that note, do any of you 'Wavers out there know of a plugin/Lscript that will take a bunch of co-planar triangles that share edges and merge them into quads?
06/09/2004 (9:23 am)
Cool, I shall have to try this out someday, even though right now I am relatively happy with Hammer. (I keep meaning to move to Quark, but I always manage to crash the program...)Yes, I'd render them as quads. In fact, I usually render everything as quads anyway, even DTS objects, and then just freeze them (if they're sub-ds) and triple them before export.
On that note, do any of you 'Wavers out there know of a plugin/Lscript that will take a bunch of co-planar triangles that share edges and merge them into quads?
#13
02/27/2006 (12:16 pm)
I looked at this website, but i can find the Lw2dif anywere. Does it work? how much is it? Is it bundled in with one of the tool kits? Can it be bought alone?
#14
Allyn... here's the link to the plugin:
www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
02/27/2006 (12:47 pm)
I emailed him a few weeks ago and I haven't gotten a reply yet. The new tool box program he offers looks quite nice, but a bit expensive. I would probably purchase this if I knew it worked and if constructor didn't look so cool!Allyn... here's the link to the plugin:
www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/GameLW.htm
#15
I have a demo for ToolBox, but not for plugins like the LW map and dts exporters.
I'll happily answer any questions, ToolBox is my pet program. I'm trying to build a game with just ToolBox, Photoshop and TGE. So everytime I need a new tool, I stop and work on the tool (like the recent poly reducer), so my game modeling goes incedibly slow!
David
Greenbriar Studio
02/27/2006 (3:57 pm)
Sorry, I don't remember your email. I do loose some in the pile of spam every day, but I try not to.I have a demo for ToolBox, but not for plugins like the LW map and dts exporters.
I'll happily answer any questions, ToolBox is my pet program. I'm trying to build a game with just ToolBox, Photoshop and TGE. So everytime I need a new tool, I stop and work on the tool (like the recent poly reducer), so my game modeling goes incedibly slow!
David
Greenbriar Studio
#16
03/03/2006 (8:12 am)
Well, here is a question. Can we buy the LW plugin alone? .. lol, your site is confusing.
#17
And I'm about to redo all my websites :) - animation, painting and armour.
David
03/03/2006 (9:12 am)
Yes, there are order buttons for each product on the 'Place an Order' page. The LW to Map (which can then be compiled with the new map2dif, or further editing done in Quark, etc) can be ordered by itself.And I'm about to redo all my websites :) - animation, painting and armour.
David
Torque Owner Daniel Brown